<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Navigation:  Software Description > Software Functions > Label Printing Updated: 30.07.2019

 

Labels are the general prerequisite for the organization and processing of all transactions in merchandise management.

 

Printed labels have some advantages over handwritten labels:

 

- More information on small labelling areas for prices, qualities, etc.

- Better legibility

- Labelling can be carried out by several persons, as independent of the individual typeface

- Better resistance to light (bleaching) and cleaning (ultrasonic bath)

 

 

Barcode

 

Many users don't just want to print labels, they want to print "barcode" labels. Although this is easy to do with the label printing function, it is important to know how a barcode works in order to be able to use it later with high efficiency. So here are a few explanations of how a barcode works.

 

First of all, the barcode is the machine-readable form of the item number of a good.

 

Without an item number it is not possible to print a barcode sensibly. If you are already using item numbers and want to continue using them unchanged, you can skip the following section.

 

 

Creating item numbers

 

Theoretically one could invent item numbers of course also freely or simply use a sequential item number. Since it is not possible to recognize which type of item it is by means of an item number, we recommend a combination of item group and consecutive number. eXtra4winIII supports this procedure by an automatic generation of item numbers.

 

When creating a new item in the item management, only the item group of the item is selected and the computer automatically assigns a consecutive number to complete the item number.

 

This ensures that items are assigned meaningful item numbers even if different persons create items.

 

 

Barcode versus Matrix-Code

 

If an item number consists only of numbers and a few digits (as described in the above case 8 digits) the printing of a barcode is recommended, because the barcode readers are still considerably cheaper than the readers for matrix codes.

 

In many cases, speaking keys are also used as item numbers in years of practice, which describe the qualities of the goods in short form. Although these codes, which are usually long and usually composed of letters, can also be printed in a barcode (as bars), they usually require so much space on the label that they are often too large for small labels.

 

This is where the matrix code (Datamatrix) comes in, which can also display long and alphanumeric article numbers in a small space. The prices of the readers are still falling, so that the matrix codes are now an interesting alternative to the classic barcode, especially as they are not as intrusive as the barcode itself.